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Serious questions still to be answered on extending Right to Buy
29/04/2016

The Parliamentary Committee took the unusual step of hearing
evidence on the policy prior to implementation, stating in its
Report that it was mindful of "both the potential impacts of
the policy on a large number of individuals, and the significant
amount of public money likely to be involved".

The Committee concludes that the
DCLG:"has presented Parliament with little
information on the potential impacts of the legislation
required"and that it is "not clear how this policy will be funded
in practice, or what its financial impacts might be".

In its recommendations to the government, the Committee calls on
DCLG to publish a full impact assessment of the policy in line with
established Treasury guidance. By the time of this year's
Autumn Statement, it should publish:

"a full analysis showing how this policy is to be funded,
provide a clear statement of where financial and other risks lie,
and spell out its contingency plan if its policies prove not to be
fiscally neutral".

The Report also says DCLG should also publish detailed data
on replacement homes and address concerns around fraud including
"setting out its plans for tackling fraud and abuse to protect
public money".

The Report Summary says:

"The policy of extending Right to Buy discounts to tenants
of housing associations, funded by the sale of high-value council
housing, has potentially significant impacts for both local
authorities and tenants of social housing, especially in areas
where house prices are high. Despite the implications and
complexity of this policy, the Department has not published a
detailed impact assessment to inform Parliament's consideration of
its legislative proposals. Many key policy details have not been
clarified, with the Department offering only vague assurances as to
how this policy will be funded, without producing any figures to
demonstrate that additional funding from central or local
government will not be required. Other concerns remain, including
the extent to which the new homes funded by this policy will be
genuine replacements for those sold, and whether there will be
sufficient controls to prevent abuse of the scheme given the
significant discounts proposed for housing association tenants
wishing to buy.

The policy of extending Right to Buy discounts to tenants of
housing associations, funded by the sale of high-value council
housing, has potentially significant impacts for both local
authorities and tenants of social housing, especially in areas
where house prices are high. Despite the implications and
complexity of this policy, the Department has not published a
detailed impact assessment to inform Parliament's consideration of
its legislative proposals. Many key policy details have not been
clarified, with the Department offering only vague assurances as to
how this policy will be funded, without producing any figures to
demonstrate that additional funding from central or local
government will not be required. Other concerns remain, including
the extent to which the new homes funded by this policy will be
genuine replacements for those sold, and whether there will be
sufficient controls to prevent abuse of the scheme given the
significant discounts proposed for housing association tenants
wishing to buy."

ARCH Chief Executive, John
Bibby, welcomed the report saying:

"The Public Accounts Committee findings are no real surprise.
They echo many of the concerns raised by stock retained councils
who still have no idea how much they will be expected to pay over
to the government to fund this policy or how many so called high
value council homes will have to be sold to pay the government's
Right to Buy levy".